Tailoring Earth Works: presenting the course at schools
Background
Earth Works offers some interesting challenges and opportunities for trainers, teachers, students, other staff and community members in schools. This guide aims to help Earth Works trainers deliver programs for teachers, students or school communities.
Earth Works in schools can link together several elements of environmental education. As a focus for waste education, it can provide a short course for schools that wish to deal effectively with their solid waste in a balanced, ecologically sustainable manner. Though it was originally designed for use with adults, Earth Works can be modified to suit quite young children, adolescents and young adults. It can also be used as a training course for teachers, to help them broaden their understanding of waste issues.
This brief guide doesn't attempt to give details about the modifications necessary for each audience group, but it does provide some guidance about the ways in which Earth Works may be delivered in schools.
The NSW Department of Education and Training has published a new Environmental Education Curriculum Statement. Many aspects of Earth Works are relevant to the Schools Environmental Plan, which is strongly recommended in the Statement.
As government schools come to terms with the implications of the planning process promoted by the curriculum statement and as its implications are considered by private schools over the longer term, it is reasonable to assume that environmental education will be further enhanced in schools, albeit gradually.
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Special aspects of the school context
To provide adequately for Earth Works in schools, Earth Works trainers, teachers and school administrators need to be aware of the context in which the training will take place.
For students, the Earth Works program can be integrated into school curricula quite easily, provided the school makes a few simple commitments in advance. Similarly the program, with some adaptations, can be conducted with teachers or with the school community.
Increased emphasis on the environment means that each school will need to consider its ecological footprint, its resource use and levels of waste generation, among other issues. Appropriate school environmental plans will acknowledge all significant aspects of a school's activities and the environmental impacts associated with these activities.
School waste
School waste differs from most other waste streams found in our society. Data from Solid Waste Audits conducted by School Communities Recycling All Paper Ltd (SCRAP) over the past five years shows the following:
|
recyclable paper |
31% |
|
compostable paper |
7% |
|
liquidcarton board |
4% |
|
food and garden waste |
38% |
|
organics sub-total |
80% |
|
plastics |
11% |
|
aluminium foil & cans |
2% |
|
other metals |
2% |
|
miscellaneous (glass, textiles, etc) |
5% |
|
other sub-total |
20% |
From these results SCRAP has concluded that organics is the most important waste stream to deal with. From a waste reduction point of view, paper recycling (where available) and composting and/or worm farming offer the best chance of reducing school waste by the greatest proportion. From an educational perspective, these waste reduction measures offer excellent potential for curriculum integration through good, practical learning activities. From an economic perspective, the school stands to save money by reducing the number of waste collections, and could redirect these funds into maintaining waste minimisation systems or other environmental goals.
Key learning areas
To conduct Earth Works in schools, it is important to assign the course to accepted Key Learning Areas (KLAs) of the school curriculum. However, Earth Works is not easily categorised. Most waste education can be easily justified within the Science and Technology KLA at both primary and secondary levels and this would be appropriate for Earth Works. However, the sessions on the history of waste, communication and outreach belong more to Human Society and its Environment, English and Personal Development/Physical Education and Health. This sets some contextual challenges.
If Earth Works is properly integrated into the curriculum it will have status as a unit or consecutive units of work within a given KLA or across several KLA's. Implementation across the curriculum, or at least within several KLAs, is the most desirable outcome but it is not essential. This level of integration is probably more possible in primary schools rather than in secondary schools. Delivery methods can also vary to overcome the possible isolation of the course in one KLA. At one school a Peer Group Learning model was used to pilot Earth Works, increasing the impact of the course by spreading it across age groups.
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Organising an Earth Works course for schools
Seeking support
The key to mounting a successful Earth Works course in a school lies fundamentally with the system authorities and the school executive. The program must have the support of the school executive in order to flourish.
An Earth Works trainer could also seek the support of the Parents & Citizens Association (P&C) and/or the School Council. Their support could help ensure the program's implementation. A trainer who is a parent is well-placed to achieve support from the P&C.
A trainer who is a teacher may need to advance the idea through normal channels such as a head teacher or assistant principal before having it considered by the school executive.
Presenting a plan
Proponents wanting to run a course for students should present a plan setting out:
- curriculum areas the course would belong to
- student learning outcomes
- timetabling considerations
- a budget for expenses and potential funding sources to offset the costs
- benefits to the school
- impact in terms of environmental planning and policy development.
Practical applications
Most people, especially young people, respond positively to learning by doing, so it is imperative that Earth Works in the school context is practically-based. There is little point in running an Earth Works course for students or teachers that does not implement actual waste reduction programs and practices within the school.
Visiting a waste facility
An excursion to a waste facility can add great value to the Earth Works course. It can help students gain an understanding of the immensity of the waste problem and the opportunities for positive waste management practices. However, unless this is followed up with activities such as waste auditing at school, the translation of the waste problem to the immediate circumstances of the students and teachers at school (or at home) can be lost.
Be flexible with time as much as possible. A course, module, unit or set of units which run for one term with a number of classes may work well within a given KLA. Ideally this would ensure continuity for the program and a gradual spread of knowledge and skills across a range of teachers and students. A three-hour program for teachers, conducted after school, may be all that is possible.
Establishing a meaningful process for waste minimisation is the ultimate goal and this may take several school terms. The key is to successfully integrate curriculum and management issues. If Earth Works fits school structures it will be generally better supported, more enduring in its own right and lead to measurable, meaningful outcomes that the school can be proud of and the students enthused by.
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Delivering the course
Keep it practical — organise waste audits (total waste stream, paper stream, food stream), waste trails, waste assessments, waste minimisation practices such as paper recycling, composting, worm farming, etc.
If you're running a course for teachers, focus on raising awareness of waste as an issue and on simple school and home activities that can reduce waste. You need to win teacher support for the program and the recommended behaviours because teachers can promote changes in school practices and within their students' attitudes and behaviours.
Try alternative deliveries such as Peer Group Learning, involving the Student Representative Council, Environment Club or sports activities. However, avoid forms of delivery which marginalise the students or the activity or reduce it from being an activity worthy of academic standing to one of novelty or diversion.
It is important to delete or adapt activities that are obviously too adult for the age group you are teaching. For example, the history of waste may be too difficult for younger children who have little personal knowledge of this issue.
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Evaluating the course
If Earth Works is properly integrated into the school curriculum a teacher will be able to credit students doing the Earth Works course as a module within their respective courses.
Earth Works in the community is assessed informally and only requires attendance and participation for accreditation, ie. a certificate. In the school context, issuing a merit certificate award is suggested. The current Earth Works Certificate could be used in this way.
It is important to communicate any plans for Earth Works in schools to the NSW Environment Protection Authority. Contact the EPA's Community Education Unit on (02) 9995 5000. This will help others implement the program in schools.
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Supporting outreach
In the community Earth Works course the proof of success is the enthusiasm participants have at the conclusion of the course for reaching out to others and helping them to reduce their waste for the benefit of the environment. This basic outcome is also essential in schools. Where the course is run for students, they can be encouraged to carry waste minimisation messages into their homes and community activities.
Outreach can occur at home or at school. However, outreach is unlikely to happen if students are sent home with positive waste minimisation messages but the school is strewn with litter after each lunchtime, waste food or lawn clippings are sent to landfill, or paper and cardboard is not reused or recycled.
Make it real — practise what you preach and make sure students are supported in separating waste, composting, worm farming or recycling within the school.
Trust is the best form of support. Trust your students to do the right thing by organising relief from class to carry out important jobs such as collecting food bins, auditing, feeding worms, etc.
Give academic value to outreach activities. Collecting bins, weighing and recording their contents, preparing food, feeding the worms, maintaining the worm farm, cleaning bins and returning them all constitute a significant contribution by students to managing waste at school. These activities should be recognised in terms of academic credit.
Savings on the cost of waste removal could be used to further support the program, e.g. to fund occasional visits by a professional worm farmer who can help with maintenance problems or run sessions to educate Earth Workers about the finer points of worm farming, etc.
Students could present reports on the quantities of waste diverted from landfill, dollars saved through fewer waste removals, or the budget required for expanding the environmental plan from managing waste to beautifying the school or enhancing the school environment by building and planting gardens for example.
Encourage students to report on the course and its outcomes through video, photography, song, dance, mime, assembly addresses, P&C meetings, open nights, media interviews, etc. and thereby reach out into the community gradually. The energy and enthusiasm generated by creating new systems could also improve the school environment.
Involve the community in the course and its activities, especially any local Earth Workers. In this way the process of reciprocal outreach is enhanced.
Develop a holistic approach that sees outreach as a natural extension of contented children engaged in education they love, rather than a chore they are obliged to perform.
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Specific resources
- CSIRO materials: Earthworms, Soil series, etc
- Educational materials available from EPA Pollution Line, Phone 131 555
- Gould League materials:
- Compost Activities Kit (includes a teachers book, poster)
- Guide to Compost Bins and Wormeries
- Waste Matters
- Blueprint for Greening Schools
- The Great Schools Litter Reduction Kit, includes a teachers book, CD-ROM, student cartoon books
- Garbage, Gums and Greenhouse song tape
- worm poster
- Lightsource Films, 1996, A complete Guide to Compost, video
- Manly Environment Centre, 1999, A Trashy Tale, video
- Reln Pty Ltd, 1994, Worm Farming Primary Education Kit
- Reverse Garbage resources: workshops on reuse; educational materials including a folder containing educational cards
- SCRAP Ltd, 1997, Solid Waste Audit Kit
- SCRAP Ltd, 1999, If you didn't eat your Greens, a practical guide for managing green waste in school
- SCRAP Ltd, 1999, Paper Recycling Kit
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Useful phone numbers and websites
- School Communities Recycling All Paper Ltd, (SCRAP)
c/- Holsworthy High School, Huon Crescent, Holsworthy NSW 2173
Phone (02) 9825 1062, Fax (02) 9825 6972
www.nccnsw.org.au/member/scrap/
- Reverse Garbage and the Bower
8/142 Addison Road, Marrickville NSW 2204
Phone (02) 9569 3132, Fax (02) 9560 9765
www.reversegarbage.org.au/
- Greenhouse Parks Program of the Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Trust
PO Box 556, Windsor NSW 2756
Phone (02) 4577 4243, Fax (02) 4577 4236
www.nccnsw.org.au/member/scrap/projects/Catalogue/GPP.html
- Keep Australia Beautiful Council
97 Wigram Street, Parramatta NSW 2150
Phone (02) 9633 3380, Fax (02) 9633 4402
www.kabnational.org.au/
- Clean Up Australia
Level 1, 18 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037
Phone (02) 9552 6177, Fax (02) 9552 4468
www.cleanup.com.au/
- OzGreen
PO Box 1378, Dee Why NSW 2099
Phone (02) 9971 4098, Fax (02) 9981 4956
www.ozgreen.org.au/
- Permaculture Sydney Association
18 Griffiths Street, Tempe NSW 2044
Phone (02) 9558 6629
www.permaculture-sydney.org.au/
- Gould League
PO Box 1117, Moorabbin Victoria 3189
Phone (03) 9532 0909, Fax (03) 9532 2860
www.gould.edu.au/index1.htm
- NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA),
PO Box A290, Sydney South NSW 1232
59–61 Goulburn Street, Sydney.
Phone Pollution Line 131 555 (information and publications requests)
Phone (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard), Fax (02) 9995 5999
Page last updated: 27 February 2011
